Atiku, Kwankwaso, Others Have Abandoned Buhari, Says PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party has stated that the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari has been abandoned by the party leaders like former vice president Atiku Abubakar and Rabiu Kwankwaso, the governor of Kano state.

In a statement issued by Olisa Metuh, National Publicity Secretary of the Poeples Democratic Party (PDP), in Abuja on Saturday he said the APC had continued to betray their inner aversion towards the candidacy of Buhari.

The statement contended that the APC leadership had abandoned Buhari’s campaigns for the February 14 presidential election. The claim has been denied by the APC.

“Most leaders of the APC do not believe in the personality of Buhari, resulting in flip-flops and double standards that had been the fate of his presidential campaign.

“Key APC leaders as former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Kano State Gov. Rabiu Kwankwaso and ex-presidential aspirant, Sam Nda-Isaiah have since abandoned Buhari.

“Lagos State Gov. Babatunde Fashola has not hidden his preference for a younger, more educated and articulate President who is able to connect with the current generation of citizens as embodied in President Goodluck Jonathan.”

The statement noted that Governor Fashola betrayed himself recently when he said Jimi Agbaje, PDP Lagos state governorship candidate, who is only 57 years old, was too old to govern Lagos state.

“This is indeed the height of hypocrisy considering the fact that Fashola was on the other hand campaigning for 73-year old Buhari to become the President of Nigeria.”

It recalled that Fashola had earlier said that: “If you put an old man there, he cannot do it. If you call him in the night, he may not pick your calls.”

The statement wondered “who better fits into this picture than Buhari who could not remember the name of his running mate at his campaign rally in Owerri.”

It added that Buhari also nearly fell while trying to climb the stage in Calabar during the ACP rally in Cross River.

“In spite of his later attempt to remedy the situation, deep inside his heart, Fashola harbours an aversion to a Buhari presidency as evidenced in his earlier statements,” the statement said.

It quoted Fashola as having said that: “When 40-year olds are now leading nations and our 40-year olds can’t even get to the Senate, they can’t even become governors.

“We cannot point to success in other countries and refuse to do what those people are doing to get things right.”

This, it said, like many Nigerians put it, was a coded way of saying Buhari was too old to be the President of the Nigeria.

The statement added that the PDP was however, not surprised at the double standard being displayed by APC leaders, describing such as “one of their stocks-in-trade”.

It recalled that the former APC Interim Deputy National Secretary, now Kaduna state governorship candidate and a Buhari supporter, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, had described him as: “perpetually unelectable”.

El-Rufai, it recalled, said he was 25 years old when Buhari was Head of State and wondered why he would not allow younger generation as symbolised in President Goodluck Jonathan, to have a shot at the position.

“El-Rufai had also called on young Nigerians to take their future into their hands and ensure that they voted for a new generation of leaders,” Metuh said in the statement.